Enchanted
by stayalittlewhile
Summary: After an encounter with a servant girl, Arthur begins having a new, and rather magical, interest for Merlin.
1. Chapter 1

It all started on a Friday. A servant girl had given Arthur something to drink and then he looked over at me. That's when things went, well, _weird._

This Friday was just like any other day being Arthur Pendragon's servant, prolonged and difficult with little to no praise. But believe it or not, I get it luckier than most servants. The day started off with the usual mucking of the horse stables and polishing Arthur's armor. I spent the rest of the day doing various chores for Arthur like cleaning his chambers. It's not like he was lazy, he spent all day training with the other knights yet he couldn't bear lifting a finger to do something around the castle. Anyway, by the end of the day, Arthur had returned to his chambers with his usual smug stride. It was around dinner time and he had no plans to eat with Uther so he sat down at the table in his room.

He stared at the empty table in front of him and expectantly looked at me, "Uh, Merlin? Where's my dinner?" he said with a certain attitude that he always has. It never fails to annoy me.

"On its way, sire," I gritted through my teeth.

"You would think it'd be here by now," Arthur complained, "I am one of the top priorities, correct?"

I was about to say something to that prat but a knock on the door indicated that Arthur's suffering had come to an end. I walked over to the door and opened it. A small servant girl was standing there, smiling at me. She was holding a tray of meats, cheeses, and an empty cup. In her other hand, she was holding a pitcher. I've seen this girl before but I didn't know her name. No point in asking though, the prince was waiting. I took the pitcher out of her hand and let her walk ahead of me with the food. She took the cup off the tray and placed it front of the prince. As she gently placed the tray down on the table, I filled up his cup with water from the pitcher. Arthur nodded at her but she continued to stand in front of him. He didn't notice at first and went to take a sip of his drink but stopped and slowly looked up at her. She smiled at him but Arthur just furrowed at her.

"Your services are no longer needed, thank you," Arthur said with no compassion whatsoever. Her face instantly fell and she awkwardly stood there. I touched her arm and tried to guide her to the door. She was resisting a bit but I opened the door for her and she turned back and looked at Arthur's figure at the table, which was taking a sip of water. She went wide eyed and looked back empathically at me before leaving quickly. I shrugged and walked back over to Arthur.

"Do you need anything else, sire?" I asked.

Arthur slowly looked up at me and met my eyes. They had gone all doughy and he stared deeply into mine, "No, Merlin."

I went to leave but Arthur grabbed my wrist, "Sit down. I could use some company," he said with a genuine smile.

I stared blankly at him. I must have heard wrong. Arthur _never_ cares for my company unless it's a on a quest but even then he usually just yells at me and calls me useless. I might as well go along with it; I have nothing else to do today. I turn around and pull a chair up to the table across Arthur. He folded his hands together and propped them under his chin. Still a little confused about the whole situation, I smiled awkwardly at him.

Arthur unfolded his hands and stabbed his fork into the cut up steak on his plate, "Would you like some?" he asked tilting the fork towards me, "There's plenty for both of us."

"Uh-I'm not, uh, " I stuttered, "No thank you, sire."

"Whatever, Merlin," he put the fork in his mouth and said, "So, how was your day?"

I had to hold in a laugh. Arthur Pendragon, one of the most conceited people I've ever met, just asked about my day. Was this his attempt at small talk?

"I don't think you'd find my day interesting," I said.

"I find _you_ interesting," Arthur replied smoothly.

Now I definitely heard wrong. Maybe Gaius has something I could use for my ears. I slowly looked up at Arthur. His hands were back under his chin and he was looking at me as if he was in a daze. His stare was constant and was making me sort of uncomfortable. He unfolded his hands again and slowly slid one over to mine. A warm, and surprisingly gentle, hand closed over mine. I froze. _What the hell is going on?_ I thought to myself. I reluctantly caught Arthur's gaze. He was staring at me like I was a god. Like he worshipped me. When he batted his eyes, I was done; I had to leave.

"Sire, thanks but I just forgot Gaius wanted me to come straight home," I lied as I retracted my hand and scrambled out of my chair, "Goodbye!"

I pushed the chair back into place and rushed to the door. I didn't even wait for a response. I closed the door behind me with a slam and began walking down the hallway. _It's nothing; _I thought to myself,_ Arthur is just in a good mood today, nothing else._ I physically shook the thoughts away and started home.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, things got even weirder

I spent the whole day trying to avoid Arthur which was sort of hard considering I'm his servant. But every time I was with him, he would always find a way to touch me. Whether it was my arm or my hand, he would just casually touch me while I was working with him. It was so surprisingly out of character for Arthur that I was beginning to worry. He also was asking much more about me. Not personal things like my family but just trivial things. How my day was going or what I planned to do later. He just wanted to always converse with me. My replies usually consisted of short, basic answers. For meals, I would pop in and set the food up and sneak out before Arthur even arrived at his room but I think he might have tried to seek me out during the day. For example, he was supposed to be in training when I was running an errand for Gaius.

"Merlin!" a voice exclaimed from close behind me, "Just the man I was looking for!"

I nearly had a heart attack when I turned around to see Arthur arm's length away from me. He had his hands behind his back and brought one up in between us. In his hand was a single red rose.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Arthur smiled.

"It is, sire," I agreed. It actually was very beautiful; the rose was perfectly fresh and full.

"Red roses symbolize many different things," Arthur continued, "The red rose is associated with passion and romance. It's often called 'the lover's rose' and in full bloom are a symbol of a lasting or enduring love."

I didn't really know what to say at this sudden information so I decided on nodding. Red roses were great and the one Arthur had was very nice but was it really worth stopping me when I'm working? I was about to excuse myself when Arthur spoke again.

"Here," Arthur said as he extended his arm out towards me, "I want you to take it."

I hesitantly took it with my free hand, looking at it puzzled, "Who do you want me to deliver it to?"

"No one," Arthur shook his head, "It's for you."

His face looked so soft and vulnerable. He had hope in his eyes and he was smiling at me. He looked as if he was proud of himself, like a big weight was lifted off of his shoulders. But as for me, I stood there like a dofus. Obviously this had been a joke with the other knights, maybe a dare of some sorts. Haha, very funny! I complained to myself. Might as well humor them. I'll get them back later.

I looked down at the rose in my hand, "Uh, thank you?"

I didn't mean to make it sound like a question but the only thing that was running through my mind at the moment were questions. Arthur bowed his head at me and I just nodded back. I honestly don't know how I even managed to move, I felt paralyzed from shock. Again, I felt the sudden urge to get out of there before I did something embarrassing so I told him I needed to deliver some medicine and thanked him again for the rose. I swear I could have seen Arthur wink at me before I turned away and began to walk down the hallway. Maybe I was going to need something stronger from Gaius.

* * *

Sorry for the short chapter, just trying to get some work out and keep it fresh x


	3. Chapter 3

For the rest of the day, I made sure to keep my distance from Arthur. I ducked around hallways, I hid behind pillars when he walked by, and I tried to stay out of the castle for as long as I could. It was going well until about dinnertime. Gwen came down to me in the stables and told me that Arthur requested my presence in his chambers at once. My stomach instantly did a flip, it would be the second the time I was alone with Arthur in his chambers. I took as long as I could to get there, stopping to talk to other servants and practically walking at a snail's pace. Once I got to the door, I took a deep breath and knocked before slowly entering.

"You called, sire?" I asked once I was in the room completely.

"Oh come here, Merlin," Arthur said, grabbing me by my hand and leading me to his wardrobe, "I need your help preparing for the dinner tonight."

Him taking me by my hand is exactly what I was avoiding. It's not like it was necessarily a bad thing. I mean, just affection from anybody in general are welcomed in my book. It had been awhile since I've had anyone to call my own. I didn't ask for Arthur's sudden fondness, and as much as it confused me, it didn't disturb me as much as it should have. I was worried that I'd do something that could come back to bite me so I tried to keep my distance.

Arthur continued, "My father is having some company from an outlaying kingdom over for dinner and I need to look presentable."

He opened the door to his wardrobe, showing me all of his clothing. Most of it consisted of typical day clothes that he would wear under his chainmail or around the castle. He lifted the first few folded shirts, pulled out a reddish orange long sleeve shirt, and held it out in front of him. He tilted his head to one side and nudged it down towards the shirt expectantly. I nodded back as a response and he threw the shirt on his bed. He then walked over to the hooks that held his jackets and plucked off a red one with a collar. I nodded again and he threw the jacket on the bed to join the shirt. Then, he pulled his blue shirt up and over his head and threw it at me. I caught it and began to fold it when I looked up to see Arthur looking at me through his eyebrows. He licked his lips ever so lightly and looked at me up and down. I don't think he knew how obvious he was being or how uncomfortable he was making me. I slipped around to the other side of the bed so at least most of my body was covered. Once I was done folding his other shirt, Arthur was completely changed but everything was a bit messy. His buttons weren't buttoned completely and once side of his collar was up and the other down. Plus, his hair was askew.

"Come here," I laughed lightly. Seeing the future king of Camelot all disarray like that was pretty ironic.

Arthur smiled and walked over to me. But he kept walking until he was, what felt like, an inch away from me. I swallowed and flashed a quick tight lipped smile at him.

"You know, Merlin," he started as I was patting down his collar, "I really like you and your company."

My hands froze on his collar. I shot up and looked at Arthur's serious yet calm face. We were about the same height so our eyes were at the same level. Once they met, I felt very nervous all of a sudden. Why as I nervous? We've been this close before, it shouldn't be a big deal! He was looking deeply at me with dilated pupils. My cheeks felt hot. Was I blushing? I swallowed before faking a small laugh and looked down to hide my reddening cheeks.

I used the opportunity of looking down to button the remaining buttons on his shirt and I was about to do the last button when Arthur said, "You're something I look forward to when I wake up."

I fumbled on the last button and almost choked on my own spit. His voice was soft and-and so _smooth_. It was so out of character, especially towards me. I held my breath and I stayed completely still. Arthur's breath was steady and relaxed while mine was practically nonexistent. I finally let out a shudder and I darted my eyes around while my head was still down, trying to say something but I couldn't think of a thing.

Suddenly, I felt a hand under my chin. He gently lifted my chin up to meet his eyes, "It's only the truth, Merlin," he whispered, "No need to get flustered."

I widened my eyes and was completely drowning in his. His eyes were mostly black with a sliver of blue outline. His gaze was darting back and forth between my eyes and my lips. Was he going to kiss me? Of course not. I swallowed hard and my lips parted as I took quick, shallow breaths. He tilted my chin a bit closer to his face. Oh god, he is, isn't he? I couldn't even move away, I just froze. Arthur looked one last time in my eyes and moved his lips towards mine. I squeezed my eyes shut and prepared for impact when there was a knock on the door. I sighed with relief and dropped my shoulders. I didn't even know how tense I was. When the door slowly began to open, I scrambled back away from Arthur and walked away from him as nonchalantly as I could, considering what just happened.

"Sire, dinner is about to be served," said the guard standing in the doorway.

"Tell them I'll be there in a second," Arthur sighed, looking obviously irritated at the interruption.

Once the guard left, he looked over to me. "Don't think I'm done with you quite yet," he almost growled.

I sharply inhaled and shakily smiled at him. He looked into his mirror and began patting down his hair. I looked into his reflection through the mirror and felt uncomfortably helpless and angry. Not only was I annoyed at whatever Arthur was trying to pull, but I was starting to annoy myself. As all of this was happening, the only thing I could manage were shy smiles and laughs. I don't know why, but I couldn't manage anything more! Refusing the attention might cause me to lose my position in the castle. As I said before, I could have worse jobs. Who knows, this could all be one big joke on me. See how much Merlin can endure before Arthur breaks character and tells everyone how I once let him try to kiss me. Yuck. The best thing I could do is ignore him and his advances. I won't play a part in his petty game.

"Well come on, Merlin. It's time for dinner." He broke me out of my train of thought and was standing in the doorway, holding the door open for me. I strode past him, without so much of a look. I guess Arthur wasn't too fond of me ignoring him because he swung a hand down and got me right on my, uh, _arse_. I looked back at Arthur and he just mischievously smiled at me. I stood there dumbfounded as I watched him walk down the hall towards the dining room. How far was he going to go to make me look like an idiot? I hoped this was the farthest but knowing how the day had escalated, I didn't know what to expect.


End file.
